Accoutrements

This neck cover or Ghughi is from the North-West of India from the Saurashtra peninsular Gujarat. There are three main styles of embroidery; the Kathipa domestic embroidery worked with flossed silk in an elongated chain stitch, geometric designs. The figurative work of the Kanbi and associated Farming Castes and the Ganesh Hangings. It would have

This neck cover or Ghughi is from the North-West of India from the Saurashtra peninsular Gujarat. There are three main styles of embroidery; the Kathipa domestic embroidery worked with flossed silk in an elongated chain stitch, geometric designs. The figurative work of the Kanbi and associated Farming Castes and the Ganesh Hangings. This equine neck

This is probably an Afghan Baluch, identifiable from the colours used in the blanket. Afghani carpets tend to use an orange dye, dark sultry red, black and blue. The Baluch tribes are renown for their use of indigo and reds. The design suggest that the maker was aware of the Pazyryk carpet and shows horses

This highly decorative horse blanket is from Delhi, India and would have been made for a wedding. The design has swans made from lines of pearls. In the centre of each swan is a cut glass button. The swans sit on lakes of gold sequins. The surrounding decoration is of beads and oval sequins. The

This also comes from Delhi, India and matches the previous horse blanket except that it is decorated with doves designed with lines of pearls. In each section is a tree of life with a resplendent jeweled flower at the top. It is set on red velvet with leather backing. The sequins and mirrors are much

This saddle cloth was purchased in Jaipur. It is embroidered on red cloth with vibrant yellow, green blue purple and cobalt decorations. They include a lovely snake like pattern along the border. The dyes would be chemical judging by the vibrancy and the piece which is relatively modern. Jaipur in Rajasthan is still the centre

This horse blanket is from Iran. It is decorated with tassels and has the abstracted design of fat-tailed sheep on the body of the blanket. It is a colourful and fine example of the kind of blanket worn to the races and on ceremonial occasions. Some of the tassels are chemical dyes but the main

This is a very old horse carpet (possibly Afghan-Turkmen, or Afghan-Baluch). When purchased it was described as Baluch. The patterns used are so very typical of the Afghani carpets with the birds tail used in repeated patterns. The central lozenge has a feel of Turkman about it, but there is yellow which is more likely

This is from Iran made by the Iranian Turkmen. It is a nose bag for feeding horses. Horses were used to travel distances and it would be quite impossible to carry buckets. Feed is placed into the nose bag which is then attached to the bridle or the horse’s head. Feeds might be barley, the

This torba or nose bag was made by a young girl called Farrah. It was purchased in Jagalan, Iran. It is a charming example of the work of the young girls, as they learn to adapt patterns and develop the complexities of design for larger items such as carpets. This one is set onto a